Poultry Lairage and Pre-Slaughter Welfare

The lairage period — when poultry are held in crates at the slaughterhouse before slaughter — involves heat stress, injuries, and mortality that represent preventable welfare costs at a critical end-of-life point.

Key Facts

Broiler chickens can experience heat stress in lairage during summer conditions in poorly ventilated areas
In-transit mortality in UK poultry has been measured at 0.04-0.16% — representing millions of birds globally
Holding times in lairage should ideally be minimized — longer waits increase stress and mortality
Water deprivation during lairage causes dehydration stress in birds used to continuous water access
Night-time delivery and processing reduces heat stress risk substantially in summer months

Welfare Considerations

Lairage is the final controllable welfare event before slaughter, yet it is often where welfare management is most neglected. Birds that have survived the catching and transport process arrive at slaughterhouses where heat, dehydration, and handling during unloading create additional welfare costs. The brevity of the lairage period does not make its welfare significance proportionally small — for individual birds that die during lairage, it represents the entirety of their slaughterhouse experience.

What You Can Do

Support campaigns for maximum lairage duration standards in poultry welfare regulations
Advocate for ventilation and temperature monitoring requirements in poultry lairage areas
Choose poultry from supply chains with documented lairage welfare monitoring
Raise awareness about lairage as an under-regulated welfare risk point
Donate to poultry welfare organizations working on end-of-life welfare standards